Published 04:52 IST, November 4th 2020
'US entitled to know result on voting day,' says Trump raising concern over possible delay
Donald Trump on Tuesday, November 3 said that the people of his country are entitled to know the result of the election on the same day of voting.
- World News
- 2 min read
The United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday, November 3 said that the people of his country are entitled to know the result of the election on the same day of voting. Trump, who was visiting the offices of the Republican National Committee in Arlington, Virginia, said that the decision to delay the result is "dangerous", referring to states which have said people may not know who won for days because of the high number of mail-in-ballots usage due to COVID-19 concerns.
'World is waiting'
"You can't have these things delayed for many days and maybe weeks. You can't do that. The whole world is waiting. This country is waiting," the Republican leader said, who is fighting to retain his presidency this year and is pitched against former vice-president Joe Biden. Some states in the United States had said that the result could take days or maybe weeks to come out as more people have voted using mail-in-ballots this election than ever before.
The states have said that they will continue to accept votes even after the final voting ends, only if they have been sent on or before November 3. This may delay the election result for days, which the US President has been long voicing his concern against. Trump has been repeatedly attacking the election process, accusing mail-in-ballots could lead to widespread fraud despite millions of Americans using the system for decades now, including the president himself, who has admitted of using it in the past.
According to the US Elections Project, nearly 74 percent of the 2016 election's total turnout have already voted early this year, which includes in-person early voting and by mail. Early voting in the US ended on Monday night and till then 35.7 million people had voted in person and 63.9 million by mail. As per the non-partisan website that tracks US elections, the unprecedented trend is likely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated 04:51 IST, November 4th 2020